Shares, dollar slip as US-North Korea tensions escalate

While already taking up 30 percent of the island, the American military has been seeking to increase its presence by relocating to Guam thousands of Marines who are now based in Okinawa, Japan.

"I feel that the presence of the military on Guam will help us a lot", said Virgie Matson, 51, a resident of Dededo, Guam's most populated village.

But GVB says Guam's top market, Japan, continues to slide, dropping by 5.2% compared to a year ago.

Residents of the tiny Pacific island of Guam say they're afraid of being caught in the middle of escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea after Pyongyang announced it was examining plans for attacking the strategically important United States territory.

The U.S. seized Guam from Spain in 1898 to provide a fueling station for the U.S. fleet in the western Pacific.

Of the more than 160,000 people on the island, Analista said roughly 40 percent of the population are Filipinos. "I feel like moving [out of Guam] now". They threatened USA, other countries, and they threaten Guam.

Shares fell in Asian and European trading after Pyongyang responded to the US president's tough language with a threat to launch a nuclear strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam.

Madden said the North Korean government is sensitive about the threat from US bombers, stemming from some of the devastation wrought during the Korean War. It is about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) southeast of North Korea, much closer than it is to any of the United States.

Traders said hedge funds had cut leveraged bets against the franc, prompted in part by worries about increased U.S.

"I've been told over and over that they're looking at Guam, they've got us within their vision to take care of us", Bordallo said. They are used to the threats from North Korea.

Japan said it had conducted joint air drills with U.S. supersonic bombers in Japanese skies close to the Korean peninsula on Tuesday as tension in the region escalates amid North Korea's continued ballistic missile tests.

In August past year, the North's Foreign Ministry warned that all us military bases in the Pacific including Guam would "face ruin in the face of all-out and substantial attack" by the North's military.

Guam is armed with the U.S. Army's defense system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which can intercept missiles.